From Organics to Ceramics? Exploring Organic Skeuomorphism in the Later Neolithic in Northern China

Exploring Organic Skeuomorphism in the Later Neolithic in Northern China

Bibliographic Data

ID6415057
AuthorsNigel Wood (0000-0002-6086-9985, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
Year2025
Issue1
Publication date2025-07-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnnali di Ca’ Foscari Serie orientale (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1125-3789 • E-ISSN: 2385-3042
PublisherEdizioni Ca’ Foscari (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.30687/annor/2385-3042/2025/01/009
OpenAlexW4412781218
LanguageEN
References cited14

Skeuomorphism in Chinese ceramics is a widespread phenomenon with examples known from the early Shang dynasty (sixteenth c. BC) through to modern times, and with metal, lacquer, jade and glass vessels all serving as models for the ceramics they inspired. With Neolithic pottery in China, however, the presence of skeuomorphic design is more difficult to assess. Nonetheless many Neolithic ceramics from northern China seem to embody influences from materials as various as basketwork, birch bark, leather and horn. This suggests that extensive skeuomorphism may once have operated at a much earlier stage in China’s ceramic history than the Bronze Age – namely the Neolithic period

Ancient history · Archaeology · Ceramic · China · Geography · Metallurgy · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Chinese history and philosophy · Environmental Science · Materials Science · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · History